


Heroic Resolve

by Rose_of_Pollux



Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 14:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10720953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_of_Pollux/pseuds/Rose_of_Pollux
Summary: In which Illya rescues and looks after a hypothermia-stricken Napoleon.





	Heroic Resolve

It was usually Illya who found himself in the clutches of mad scientists seeking guinea pigs. But the law of averages meant that Napoleon wasn’t immune, and his luck had finally run out; the senior agent had gone missing while on assignment, and Illya was practically turning the entire area upside-down looking for him.

Napoleon’s homing device had led him to a THRUSH-owned facility, where Illya had found Napoleon’s clothes discarded in the corner of a lab, torn from a fight. Frustrated, the Russian lay in wait until the scientist returned, and then pounced, holding him at gunpoint.

“Where is Napoleon?” Illya hissed. “Where is my partner?”

The scientist didn’t answer, but his eyes flickered towards a sealed, metal door with “COLD ROOM” stamped on it.

“The key,” he ordered. “Give me the key, or you will die where you stand.”

The scientist still did not move.

“The key!” Illya snarled.

“He is in the midst of my greatest experiment; you cannot stop it now!” the scientist pleaded, though he did pull the key ring from his pocket. “I am begging you not to! I am trying to prove to my THRUSH superiors that it is possible to place a human being in suspended animation by lowering his body temperature sufficiently--”

Illya cut him off with a tranquilizer dart and took the keys, unlocking the door. He stopped short as he saw the sight within. Napoleon was curled up on the floor of a small cage, barely lifting his head as he heard the door open.

“Napoleon…!” Illya exclaimed, shocked at the blueish tinge to his partner’s lips and fingertips. He was at his partner’s side in an instant, unlocking the cage and checking his vitals.

“You made it,” Napoleon said, with a wan smile. “I think my legs are locked, though; I could use some help…”

“You could use something to warm you up, as well,” Illya said, as he helped Napoleon up and out of the cage. It was painfully obvious that Napoleon was suffering from hypothermia—a moderate stage, as he was still conscious, but he was not shivering as he should have been if it was a milder case.

Once out, Illya grabbed the nearest tablecloth he could find and wrapped Napoleon in it.

“That will have to do until we can get you a new set of clothes; they are not salvageable this time.”

Napoleon mumbled something that Illya couldn’t quite decipher other than two words—“Expense report.”

“If they will not reimburse you, then I will buy you a new suit,” Illya promised, as he led him out to their car; other U.N.C.L.E. agents were continuing the raid. “It will take some time for Medical to get a helicopter here, so I am taking you to the safehouse to warm you up until they get here.”

“Alright…” Napoleon said, passively, as Illya bundled him into the front seat and covered him with more blankets.

“Napoleon, how long were you in there?” Illya asked, as he drove.

“I don’t really know,” Napoleon said. He was speaking very calmly for having been through such an ordeal, something which concerned Illya. “It was hard to keep track of time in there…”

Illya exhaled, and, after pulling up to the safehouse, carried Napoleon inside and tucked him in bed, and then got in with him to help warm him further. That would be the most he could do, he knew; trying to warm Napoleon up any further would be too quick, and would do more harm than good.

“Well,” Illya sighed. “You are, for the most part, coherent, but it would put my mind at ease if you would shiver and your lips regained their color.”

“It’s strange,” Napoleon said. “I know I’m cold, but I don’t feel cold. I did at first, but then I didn’t. …I know that’s not good.”

“ _Nyet_ , it is not,” Illya said, feeling Napoleon’s forehead and silently trying to calculate what his core temperature would be. “But I am here. And I will continue to be with you even after Medical comes for you.”

Napoleon managed a wan smile.

“You’re the reason I held on, you know?” he murmured.

“Really?”

“I didn’t know if that suspended animation idea was going to work or not,” Napoleon said. “But I just had to stay awake—just in case it was… Couldn’t let myself sleep—couldn’t give in. Couldn’t let myself be reduced to a Sleeping Beauty and leave you without a partner, now could I?”

Illya let out a quiet snort.

“Knowing you, a kiss _would_ have woken you up—raised your body temperature.”

“…Can’t we find out?”

Illya rolled his eyes, but humored Napoleon with a kiss.

And then, moments later, he felt Napoleon tremble and shiver. He would have made a comment about it had Napoleon’s expression not been one of deep thought.

“Napoleon?”

“H-Had a s-selfish reason t-t-too,” Napoleon admitted, with a sheepish smile; Illya’s heart twisted to hear him stammer, but he knew it was a good sign that he was shivering again. “I c-couldn’t help think of… wh-what if it worked… Wh-what if I’d gone to sleep and woken up y-years later in a world where you and everyone I knew were old—or worse…? I c-couldn’t bear the thought of it… That’s also wh-what… kept me fighting…”

Illya held him closer, glancing at him with a reassuring look.

“Napoleon,” he whispered. “Had the experiment been a success, I would have done everything humanly possible to reverse the process.”

“I kn-know. You’d have p-pulled it off, t-too… I’m j-just glad y-you didn’t have t-to.”

“As am I,” Illya said, gently kissing Napoleon on the temple.

“…Th-thank you,” Napoleon whispered. “For finding m-me.”

“Thank you, _Dorogoy_ ,” Illya returned. “For holding on.”

Napoleon nodded, and the two of them relaxed, relieved with the knowledge that Napoleon would be alright now. That was the most important thing.


End file.
